


You can't get down, can you?

by berxnica



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, if raven couldnt get off that horse she certainly couldnt get on it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-29 02:16:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6354721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berxnica/pseuds/berxnica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Raven,” Octavia nearly growls, snapping Raven’s attention back to her, back to her horse. “We have to go.”</p><p>Raven shifts her weight subconsciously, favoring her good leg. Her fingers brush against the cool metal of her brace but she quickly yanks them back a second later, the brace suddenly scalding. “I know,” Raven tries, voice as solid as her body will let it be. She makes no effort to move to get onto the horse. That’s all she gives Octavia. Really, it’s all she can give herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You can't get down, can you?

Miller rides a couple hundred feet in front of them, Jasper cradled against his body. Raven watches as he commands his horse to stop, giving her and Octavia the space they needed without leaving them to fend for themselves. She marvels in the way that Miller just _knew_. He knew that something was wrong and trotted off on the horse not a moment later. 

“Raven,” Octavia nearly growls, snapping Raven’s attention back to her, back to her horse. “We have to _go_.”

Raven shifts her weight subconsciously, favoring her good leg. Her fingers brush against the cool metal of her brace but she quickly yanks them back a second later, the brace suddenly scalding. “I know,” Raven tries, voice as solid as her body will let it be. She makes no effort to move to get onto the horse. That’s all she gives Octavia. Really, it’s all she can give herself.

Octavia sighs, eyes slipping shut. Raven can almost feel her frustration. “We have to go,” she reiterates. Her eyes open again, connecting with Raven’s. “Jasper’s going to bleed out.”

“I know,” Raven repeats. She wants to scream. Yes, Octavia, I know we have to go and No, Octavia, I can’t get on the horse. But she won’t tell Octavia that. Octavia doesn’t have to know that Raven’s fighting off tears as they speak, the weight of her own body nearly too much for her leg to bear. Octavia doesn’t have to know that Raven can only think about her pain, her pain, and nothing but her pain. Octavia doesn’t have to know that Raven used to be a Zero-G mechanic who did repairs in record time who now can’t even will her body to rear a horse. Octavia doesn’t need to know. Nobody needs to know.

“You can’t get up,” Octavia states, suddenly. Her eyes are softer now, more subdued. She sighs, eyes darting down to Raven’s brace. “It’s your leg.”

“I know,” Raven mutters for the third time, fingers curling around the metal of her brace. 

“Okay,” Octavia nods. “Okay, we can do this.”

Octavia slides off of her horse in one swift, fluid motion that causes envy to bubble in Raven’s stomach. If only. 

“Octavia,” Raven tries, eyes glistening slightly. “Don’t tell anyone, yeah? Gotta keep my reputation up.”

She hopes the joke isn’t as cringe worthy as it feels. What would they think of her? The great Raven Reyes, the space walker. The great Raven Reyes, the bomb builder. The great Raven Reyes, who helped burned 300 warriors alive. The great Raven Reyes, _crying_. 

Octavia doesn’t respond to her, not really. Her fingers brush over her forearm deliberately, lingering for a second with all the unspoken words that Raven needs. “We can do this,” Octavia whispers. 

And then a second later, Octavia’s pushing her up onto the horse, stiffening slightly when Raven cries out in pain. Raven’s hands fasten onto the horse’s saddle, pulling up with her entire strength. It hurts, god, Raven _hurts_ , but she pulls up harder. She knows that they’re sitting ducks if they continue to stay here. She doesn’t want Jasper to die.

When Raven’s finally is on top of the horse, her breath heaves. She’s bent forward, face pressed into the horse’s mane as she sucks in all the air she can, eyes screwed tight. “Thanks,” she manages, sitting up, making room for Octavia. “I, eh- I owe you one.”

Octavia nods and mounts the horse in record time, slipping in front of Raven so easily it almost isn’t fair. Raven would have cared if her body didn’t ache so badly. 

“You know, I’m here, Raven,” Octavia reveals as she kicks her steed into motion. Raven’s arms wrap around her waist to steady herself, her nose pressing into Octavia’s hair. “I mean what I said. You don’t have to bear this alone. We can do this together.”

It’s Raven’s turn to nod, now. For a second, all her pain is gone. Her leg doesn’t hurt, her body doesn’t ache, and she isn’t wearing a brace. 

“Yeah, O. Thanks.”

They catch up to Miller and ride back to camp. Raven doesn’t let Octavia know how badly each trot of the horse hurt but she figured that Octavia could hear her grunting against her body. The two of them are silent, though, other than the sounds that Raven makes. So is Miller. They all have things on their mind.

Jasper moans in pain. 

 _Me too, buddy_ , Raven wants to tell him. _I feel your pain_. 

She did. She really did. How many times has she wanted what Jasper has been able to accomplish in seconds? Death, relief. He smiled against the blade as it pressed against his neck and it kind of scared Raven because she understands. She understands _completely_. 

“We’re almost there,” Octavia says suddenly. “Hang on, yeah?”

Raven nods dumbly. “Yeah.”

They’re at camp a second later. People aren’t there to greet them. Octavia dismounts the horse and hurries toward Jasper. 

“Jasper’s hurt! What took you so long?”

Raven nearly laughs. Jasper’s been hurt for three long months. What took you so long was fair. 

Abby’s there to greet them moments later. Jasper gets rushed off to medical. It’s all a blur. Raven’s still on top of the horse when Octavia hops down. 

Once Jasper’s taken care of, Abby approaches her. “Clarke?” she asks, hopeful. 

Raven shakes her head. All they managed to do was nearly get Jasper killed.

“Do you want me to take them?” Octavia asks. Her eyes ask a different question. _Do you want me to help you?_

“It’s okay,” Raven forces, defensive. She regrets it as soon as it comes out of her mouth. She needed help. She needed a friend. She missed Clarke, too. “I’ll bring her.”

Octavia lingers a second too long before she nods, head dropping as she drags her horse toward the stables. 

When Abby asks, she feels like crying. “You can’t get down, can you?”

No. She shakes her head as it bows. 

“Okay, come here.” Abby holds her arms out like she’s a child and Raven wishes she had gone with Octavia, with Jasper. She reaches for Abby nonetheless.

“Thanks,” she grits out when she’s on her two feet again. She doesn’t look Abby in the eye. Maybe then she wouldn’t see how close she was to crying.

“Raven-”

“I’m good,” she growls.

She takes the horse and gets away as fast as her body will let her. It isn’t very fast. The horse nays and Raven realizes that it has a slice in it’s thigh. Maybe it was in pain. It probably wouldn’t have been able to get down, either. 

 _Me too, buddy,_ she finds herself thinking again _. I feel your pain._

**Author's Note:**

> I don't write a lot of canon fics because the plot is constantly moving and I don't like being wrong. However, this was bouncing around my head forever. Who helped her get on the horse? Octavia did. They don't talk about it. Thanks for reading.


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